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FUELing Effective Written Expression

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Title: FUELing Effective Written Expression
Language: English
Authors: Sara M. Flanagan (ORCID 0000-0001-6952-5751), Joo Young Lee
Source: TEACHING Exceptional Children. 2026 58(4):224-232.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 9
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Self Expression, Students with Disabilities, Prewriting, Writing Processes, Writing Instruction, Writing Strategies, Instructional Materials, Special Education
DOI: 10.1177/00400599251340629
ISSN: 0040-0599
2163-5684
Abstract: Writing a cohesive, complete paragraph on one idea can be a challenging task for students with high-incidence disabilities who have writing instructional needs. Writing can be supported in students with high-incidence disabilities with prewriting (or planning) strategies. Prewriting, or planning, strategies play a powerful role in developing all students' writing. Prewriting strategies prepare students to write by enabling them to select a topic, identify the audience and purpose of writing, and generate and organize ideas prior to writing their content. When students engage in prewriting, they are more likely to increase the amount of on-topic content and details written with improved organization and overall quality across writing tasks. Prewriting also minimizes the emphasis placed on executive function. In doing so, it allows students to strategically plan how to organize their ideas in a logical sequence and maintain a single focus, such as generating ideas on a writing topic. Prewriting activities are especially beneficial for students with high-incidence disabilities when the strategy is coupled with explicit instruction, practice, and models. This article discusses the FUEL writing strategy and graphic organizer.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1502529
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0192768410;tec01mar.26;2026Apr07.05:50;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0192768410-1">FUELing Effective Written Expression </title> <p>Graph</p> <p> <emph>Mrs. Cherry is an experienced special education teacher, supporting middle school students with a range of learning needs, including in written expression. Most of her students experience high-incidence disabilities such as learning disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mild intellectual disabilities, and emotional behavioral disorders. This year, her students are struggling to consistently write a complete paragraph with at least a topic sentence, supportive detail sentences, and a concluding statement. All students at the school are expected to write multi-paragraph expository essays on various topics for a schoolwide writing celebration at the end of the year to showcase their writing. Every 2 weeks, the principal selects a topic for all students to write about, such as their favorite hobby or school activity. Mrs. Cherry wants her students to participate in the schoolwide writing activities and to make sure that they are also celebrated at the end of the year.</emph> </p> <p>"<bold>Writing a cohesive, complete paragraph on one idea can be a challenging task for students with high-incidence disabilities who have writing instructional needs.</bold></p> <p>"<bold>Prewriting, or planning, strategies play a powerful role in developing all students' writing.</bold></p> <p> <emph>Following instruction on sentence writing, her students begin writing complete sentences and including punctuation more often. However, they continue to struggle to write several sentences on topic and in a logical, organized way to form a paragraph. For example, Theo tends to struggle to think of ideas to write about, causing him to not fully respond to a prompt. Because he is so focused on generating ideas, he easily gets off topic when writing or does not finish his sentences (e.g., leaving out essential words, not using punctuation). He loves to share creative stories with others but experiences difficulties doing so in written forms. Jackie has many great ideas and attempts to write complete sentences, but her content can be hard for a reader to understand due to not finishing or connecting her thoughts. Her ideas and creativity are not always reflected in her writing (Figure 1). All students experience a range of difficulties in writing, such as difficulties writing sentences and forming paragraphs, developing their content, and organizing it in a way that makes sense to the reader. Students also share that they "just aren't good at it" and think writing is "boring" and "takes too long." Mrs. Cherry wants to motivate her students and show them that they can write and that they are writers!</emph> </p> <p>Graph: Figure 1 Jackie's pretest and writing passage with FUEL</p> <p> <emph>Mrs. Cherry recognizes that she needs to focus first on writing a paragraph before writing longer essays. She knows that her students need explicit instruction and practice. They benefit from using the same strategy for multiple writing tasks and one that includes all the needed components of a writing task. She recently learned about using graphic organizers to support students' writing. She wonders if her students can make gains in writing with a graphic organizer and the right instruction.</emph> </p> <p>Writing a cohesive, complete paragraph on one idea can be a challenging task for students with high-incidence disabilities who have writing instructional needs. Writing simultaneously requires complex skills ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref1">18</reflink>]), such as maintaining a single focus, generating and organizing ideas, and using appropriate vocabulary words while also following conventions and grammatical rules ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref2">20</reflink>]). In addition to these more technical skills, students should be able to manage their efforts and strategically self-regulate their writing behaviors from planning and drafting, to revising, to editing to be effective writers. Students with high-incidence disabilities may experience challenges across these cognitive and affective processes related to writing compared to their peers without disabilities ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref3">15</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref4">22</reflink>]). For example, they may be less knowledgeable about writing genres, types of audiences, and different purposes for writing ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref5">17</reflink>]). They are less skillful and strategic in planning, monitoring, and evaluating their own writing. Students may not independently engage in strategies such as prewriting or checking to make sure their written response includes the needed information for a writing task without instruction to do so. Consequently, their writing tends to be shorter, includes more irrelevant content and vocabulary, lacks organization, includes limited sentence structure with run-on sentences, and includes more grammatical errors ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref6">15</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref7">22</reflink>]). Yet writing can be supported in students with high-incidence disabilities with prewriting (or planning) strategies.</p> <p>Prewriting, or planning, strategies play a powerful role in developing all students' writing. Prewriting strategies prepare students to write by enabling them to select a topic, identify the audience and purpose of writing, and generate and organize ideas prior to writing their content. Prewriting includes strategies such as graphic organizers, concept mapping, outlining, and simply listing ideas. When students engage in prewriting, they are more likely to increase the amount of on-topic content and details written with improved organization and overall quality across writing tasks. Prewriting also minimizes the emphasis placed on executive function. In doing so, it allows students to strategically plan how to organize their ideas in a logical sequence and maintain a single focus, such as generating ideas on a writing topic. Prewriting activities are especially beneficial for students with high-incidence disabilities when the strategy is coupled with explicit instruction, practice, and models ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref8">2</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref9">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref10">6</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref11">7</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref12">9</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref13">10</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref14">13</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref15">14</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref16">19</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref17">23</reflink>]).</p> <p>"<bold>Prewriting strategies, such as through the use of effective graphic organizers, can "FUEL" students' writing.</bold></p> <p>Essentially, prewriting strategies, such as through the use of effective graphic organizers, can "FUEL" students' writing.</p> <hd id="AN0192768410-2">"Start Your Engines": Teaching How to FUEL Expository Paragraph Writing</hd> <p>Prior to Mrs. Cherry implementing a prewriting strategy into her classroom, she provides explicit instruction on its use for both how to use the strategy and how to use it for writing an expository paragraph. As with teaching any new strategy, including those for prewriting, explicit instruction is key. Explicit instruction is mastery-oriented and breaks complex skills into smaller, specific units, such as each component of a prewriting strategy, instead of teaching it as one unit. It embeds multiple opportunities to practice in different ways using models and scaffolding, such as graphic organizers for prewriting. At the same time, students are provided specific, directed feedback (e.g., "This idea on your graphic organizer isn't on topic because it is on your favorite food when the topic is your favorite hobby. What is another idea we could write about instead that describes your favorite hobby?"; [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref18">16</reflink>]). Research has well documented the effectiveness of explicit instruction on students' writing performance. For students with high-incidence disabilities, explicit instruction develops their knowledge of the writing process, including with prewriting and content development, such as writing sentences and then forming paragraphs, organizing ideas, engaging in self-evaluation, and increasing self-efficacy ([<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref19">5</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref20">9</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref21">14</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref22">16</reflink>]). Explicit instruction gradually reduces teachers' level of support while integrating scaffolds such as graphic organizers. In doing so, students' cognitive load required for writing decreases, and they improve and gain independence in their writing ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref23">16</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0192768410-3">Reviewing Paragraph Writing and Introducing FUEL</hd> <p>Explicit instruction begins with reviewing and supporting students' background knowledge on the writing task to understand the larger strategy, such as providing examples of what an expository paragraph "looks" like and the purpose.</p> <p>Next, introduce the strategy, FUEL (Figure 2). With FUEL, this means explaining and reviewing key terms in FUEL (e.g., what is a topic) and then modeling FUEL as the first step in the explicit instruction process (for a roadmap of FUEL implementation, see Figure 3).</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> <bold> F </bold> is for "find your topic," with students identifying the topic of the writing prompt or other writing activity.</item> <p></p> <item> <bold> U </bold> is for "use your ideas" by listing one idea in each box that responds to the prompt. Students do not need to write full sentences and can write a word or short phrase.</item> <p></p> <item> <bold> E </bold> is for evaluating if the ideas are on topic. Students look at each of their ideas and check the box if all are on the same topic identified in "F" and make changes as needed.</item> <p></p> <item> <bold> L </bold> is for listing the ideas by ordering their ideas 1 through 4 in the stars next to each idea. This will be the order in which students write the body of their paragraph.</item> </ulist> <p>Graph: Figure 2 FUEL example and paragraph</p> <p>Graph: Figure 3 FUEL roadmap</p> <p>FUEL specifically supports an expository writing task and associated prewriting because it provides students a means to describe or explain something in detail, such as an event at school, favorite food, benefits of extra recess time, or other topic. When explaining FUEL, the teacher should discuss the purpose of the prewriting strategy (e.g., what it is, when to use it, and why it is important to learn). The teacher should then use both examples and nonexamples to help students best understand how to identify ideas on a topic. For example, in Figure 2 on fun things to do in Maine, the teacher explains why each of the ideas relates to the topic and then why they choose the order of the ideas. The teacher will continue to model FUEL until students can accurately identify each component and correct any errors, such as if an idea is off topic.</p> <hd id="AN0192768410-4">Modeling FUEL</hd> <p>Next, the teacher models how to use FUEL to write an actual paragraph. FUEL can be a stand-alone prewriting strategy or used with more support to translate FUEL to a paragraph. For some students with disabilities, including Mrs. Cherry's, they might benefit from additional concrete support and explicit instruction on translating FUEL to a paragraph, including how each idea becomes a sentence and the paragraph structure. This is reflected on the paragraph writing template on the second page of Figure 2. Students match each component of FUEL to the paragraph structure and each sentence. Here, students number the stars on the template 1 through 4; each number corresponds to one of their ideas, such as how "skiing" is listed as Idea 4 on FUEL and then written as Sentence 4 in the paragraph.</p> <hd id="AN0192768410-5">Providing Guided and Independent Practice</hd> <p>Additionally, explaining the strategy does not end with one example. A teacher should provide multiple opportunities for guided practice with the FUEL graphic organizer prior to ensuring that students understand it. Practice FUEL using writing prompts relevant to students that reflect their interests, lived experiences, and identities. Such prompts do not require any specific background or content-area knowledge, allowing students to better focus on learning and practicing the strategy. Selecting engaging, relevant prompts on known topics to students allows them to focus on developing and using the strategy versus generating ideas. For example, students might practice by completing FUEL about what they did over the weekend instead of the main characters in a novel read in language arts class, or they could write about any person they admire instead of a specific historical figure. Students can then practice completing FUEL and writing paragraphs on such topics.</p> <p>When developing a new strategy, students also benefit from guided practice with FUEL and writing paragraphs in groups, pairs, and individually. Across all, students should receive specific feedback from the teacher on what they included or did not include in their paragraphs. When giving feedback, the teacher should reference FUEL to reinforce the strategy, such as saying, "Remember, your paragraph needs to be on one topic. Which sentence isn't on the topic?" This prompts students to use their prewriting to make revisions. Practicing using FUEL to write a paragraph is essential because students may not inherently know how to translate a prewriting strategy to actual content. Practice should continue until students can consistently and independently complete FUEL and write the corresponding paragraph.</p> <hd id="AN0192768410-6">"Off to the Races": Using FUEL to Write Expository Paragraphs</hd> <p>After learning how to use FUEL and how to use it to write a paragraph, students should continue to independently use FUEL when writing. For students to benefit the most from prewriting graphic organizers like FUEL, students must use it consistently to plan, organize, and develop their content across writing tasks. Consistent use refers to using FUEL as a prewriting strategy multiple times for different writing prompts followed by using it to write the accompanying paragraph. By consistently using FUEL, students develop their understanding of the strategy and how to write a cohesive paragraph. Mrs. Cherry's students immediately experienced improvements in their writing when using FUEL, including using more descriptive language and supportive details, staying on topic, fully responding to the prompt, and writing longer passages. Such benefits are echoed in other research on graphic organizers and prewriting for students with and without high-incidence disabilities ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref24">2</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref25">6</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref26">8</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref27">14</reflink>]).</p> <p>However, when implementing FUEL or any other prewriting strategy, it is important to also consider student-specific needs for completing prewriting and the associated writing task. For instance, Jackie opted to include pictures with her prewriting details on FUEL. Drawing a picture helped her to think of additional information to include when writing her paragraph. Drawing also reduced her reliance on handwriting, spelling, and vocabulary. A picture allowed her to visually depict her ideas instead of writing all words associated with summer activities on her FUEL graphic organizer in Figure 1.</p> <p> <emph>Mrs. Cherry's students benefited from having multiple practice opportunities to practice FUEL and write paragraphs prior to doing so independently with the added paragraph structure. However, students often paused to ask how to spell a word. Because of this and all students having access to a laptop, Mrs. Cherry recreated FUEL and the paragraph writing template in a Google Doc for students to type or dictate their sentences and ideas and to access tools like spellcheck. However, students preferred to physically write due to wanting to see FUEL while developing their paragraphs without having to scroll between two pages or documents. They like being able to draw their ideas on FUEL and then physically mark off sections used when writing their paragraph and were successful in doing so.</emph> </p> <hd id="AN0192768410-7">Changing Gears: Using FUEL to Meet Diverse Learning Needs</hd> <p>Graphic organizers and other prewriting strategies are also effective with students with disabilities broadly beyond those with high-incidence disabilities ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref28">14</reflink>]). Prewriting and writing the subsequent content can be augmented with technology ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref29">1</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref30">21</reflink>]). Although Mrs. Cherry's students preferred not to use technology to complete FUEL or write their paragraphs, technology such as speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and embedded grammar and spelling checking tools may provide added benefits to students. Technology-based tools and other strategies align to Universal Design for Learning by reducing students' barriers to writing, such as those related to spelling, reading, vocabulary, executive function, and/or physical handwriting.</p> <p>By reducing barriers, students can focus more on completing their prewriting and developing content. For instance, speech-to-text (or dictation) allows students to voice their content into an electronic document instead of typing. In doing so, students potentially use expanded vocabulary and word choices without the hindrance of spelling, reading, or handwriting difficulties. Although students still need to generate their own ideas and plan how to organize them, speech-to-text may also be more efficient than typing or physical handwriting, allowing them to develop and edit their content more quickly and easily. In FUEL, students could dictate both their ideas and paragraph content, potentially even writing faster and with more detailed content than they would otherwise. For students like Mrs. Cherry's, who prefer to draw and physically mark off sections of FUEL, they could complete FUEL by hand and then reference it while dictating their paragraphs into a word processing program or using the dictation feature in Google Docs. This way, teachers can ensure that students are still actively engaging in the "writing" process by converting their spoken words into written language. Additionally, text-to-speech allows students to hear their written content back to support comprehension, and engage in editing and self-monitoring. For example, students can listen to their ideas included on FUEL to determine if all are on topic or to their paragraphs to check that it only includes complete sentences and then make edits. Speech-to-text and text-to-speech supports not only students' writing process but also their attention to and engagement in the writing process ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref31">1</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref32">21</reflink>]).</p> <p>Some students with disabilities may experience challenges associated with vocabulary and word-level knowledge, leading to difficulties completing the idea generation aspect of FUEL. Word banks and/or pictures that are reflective of the prompt support in developing their ideas by providing a starting point (e.g., if the prompt is on fun summer activities, the student has six to eight pictures of summer activities to select from to complete FUEL). Word banks also potentially bypass difficulties associated with spelling, and pictures potentially bypass difficulties associated with reading, allowing a student to still brainstorm and identify ideas to complete FUEL. However, when providing students with word banks and/or pictures, it is important to be aware of their cultural and linguistic diversity and their lived experiences and voice. For instance, instead of the teacher selecting words or phrases they might use to complete FUEL, they would provide a wider variety of words and phrases based on their knowledge of and in collaboration with the student, and the student's identities, culture, and preferences.</p> <p>For students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), teachers should consider using technology along with other strategies in FUEL to support students' vocabulary, content development, and self-evaluation. For instance, in the framework of FUEL, when developing and using their ideas, teachers can provide students a word bank with a list of vocabulary words related to the prompt. Words banks demonstrate the connection and meaning by pairing a written English word(s) with the word(s) in the students' primary language ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref33">24</reflink>]). Technology adds to the benefits of using word banks and other technology-based tools for the writing process. For instance, in a word processing document, each word is paired with a picture and/or example. Using features embedded in their devices and word processing programs, students can translate, access definitions, and hear the pronunciation of a word or other content on FUEL. For students who may benefit from support with the "rules" of the written English language, word processing programs and artificial intelligence tools (e.g., Grammarly) provide students feedback and suggested edits on sentence structure, word usage, and grammar ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref34">12</reflink>]). Last, when students evaluate their ideas on FUEL and self-monitor their written content, they can again use text-to-speech to listen to and edit their content.</p> <p>Furthermore, graphic organizers like FUEL coupled with explicit instruction align to effective instructional practices to support CLD students' writing by clearly identifying the needed topic, ideas, structure, and other aspects of a writing task ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref35">11</reflink>]). Additionally, graphic organizers may make writing "less daunting for students who may initially be overwhelmed by a blank piece of paper" ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref36">11</reflink>], p. 19). Meaning that a graphic organizer provides a strategy for developing their content prior to writing and reduces the complexity of a larger writing task. Like with explicit instruction for students with disabilities, CLD students also benefit from multiple opportunities to practice using FUEL and receive feedback ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref37">11</reflink>]). However, to best differentiate FUEL to meet students' unique needs, teachers must evaluate students' use of FUEL and the associated written paragraph content.</p> <hd id="AN0192768410-8">"Check Your Engines": Evaluating FUEL</hd> <p>When using any writing strategy, it is important to evaluate students' accurate completion of and use of the strategy and then their actual writing. Meaning that for the students in Mrs. Cherry's class, she first evaluated the accuracy to which students completed FUEL (e.g., if each "U" detail was on the topic) and then that students used their planning when writing. Next, Mrs. Cherry evaluated the actual content written. Mrs. Cherry created a checklist to evaluate what students complete in FUEL, the components of FUEL used in generating the paragraph, and the content in the actual paragraph (Table 1). Using the checklist, Mrs. Cherry can quickly identify areas of need (e.g., if students consistently do not write a topic sentence) or areas students are demonstrating consistently. As students develop their paragraph writing, a more comprehensive, evaluative rubric can better gauge students' writing improvements, such as rating the quality of sentences written to generate a score for each paragraph.</p> <p>Table 1 Evaluating FUEL, Example Rubric for Mrs. Cherry's Students Instructional goal: Write a paragraph after prewriting that includes a topic sentence, four body sentences, and a concluding statement. Rubrics: Students receive a ✔ if they included the rubric item on their FUEL graphic organizer and/or paragraph.</p> <p>Graph</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><colgroup><col align="left" /><col align="char" char="." /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="center">FUEL graphic organizer component</th><th align="center">Correctly completed (✔)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>F: Find your topic: correctly identified</td><td /></tr><tr><td>U: Use your ideas: Idea 1 listed and on topic</td><td /></tr><tr><td>U: Use your ideas: Idea 2 listed and on topic</td><td /></tr><tr><td>U: Use your ideas: Idea 3 listed and on topic</td><td /></tr><tr><td>U: Use your ideas: Idea 4 listed and on topic</td><td /></tr><tr><td>E: Evaluate: Evaluated ideas and made changes (as needed)</td><td /></tr><tr><td>L: List your ideas: Listed ideas in the desired order</td><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p></p> <p>Graph</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><colgroup><col align="left" /><col align="char" char="." /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="center">Paragraph content</th><th align="center">Included (✔)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Topic sentence</td><td /></tr><tr><td>Detail Sentence 1 on Idea 1</td><td /></tr><tr><td>Detail Sentence 2 on Idea 2</td><td /></tr><tr><td>Detail Sentence 3 on Idea 3</td><td /></tr><tr><td>Detail Sentence 4 on Idea 4</td><td /></tr><tr><td>Concluding sentence</td><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>After evaluating students' paragraphs, adjust instruction and provide more support as needed, such as targeted instruction or additional strategies based on gaps or inconsistencies in students' performance. For example, if a student struggles with developing each idea into a full sentence, the teacher might provide sentence starters (e.g., "One fun activity to do in the summer is ____;" "Another fun activity is _____") for students to complete to begin developing content and writing complete sentences. Or like Jackie, who begins three of their four sentences with "I like," she would benefit from instruction on sentence structure and writing sentences with more variety in the word choices. Or if a student does not consistently use punctuation, an additional editing self-check strategy could be added such as a punctuation checklist.</p> <p>When evaluation methods demonstrate that students are consistently and fluently using FUEL and writing paragraphs, consider reducing the amount of support. For example, if a rubric shows that students are including all their ideas in their paragraph, the stars on the paragraph writing template could be removed to allow students to practice ordering their sentences in the needed sequence without a prompt to do so. If students are accurately writing all the needed sentences, a teacher can reduce the amount of support provided, such as only providing FUEL as a prewriting strategy and not the paragraph writing template. Doing so also allows teachers to evaluate if students have generalized FUEL to writing a paragraph independently.</p> <p>Additionally, evaluation also applies to students' self-monitoring and evaluation. When students witness their own successes in writing, they are more likely to be engaged in writing and willing to write. When students take ownership of their own writing progress and set goals, students can self-monitor their writing behaviors and the quality of their work. Students see their writing progress and growth, potentially increasing their willingness and engagement in the writing process ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref38">3</reflink>]). Through FUEL, students can evaluate their writing and engage in self-monitoring by (a) checking that all their ideas align with the topic and have been integrated into their paragraphs as planned and (b) ensuring that all the steps of the FUEL were completed, such as marking off each section of FUEL used in the written paragraph. Students can use also checklists like those in Table 1 or those that are goal specific (e.g., checklist for using a certain number of support details) to self-evaluate their own writing. Through self-evaluation, students are more likely to sustain their attention and engagement in the writing process.</p> <p> <emph>For Mrs. Cherry's students, they asked to write with FUEL on other writing tasks and to write more often. They quickly learned to use FUEL to not just write their paragraphs but also to self-check their content and eventually add on additional paragraphs. Theo's writing development took off as he used FUEL. Prior to using FUEL, he wrote, "math because math is fun in some way like" in response to a prompt on the best part of school. After using FUEL, he consistently included a topic sentence that restated the prompt, at least four on-topic supportive details with their corresponding sentences, and a concluding sentence. Theo also used FUEL to check he included all his ideas and in the right order. Jackie also experienced similar successes, going from vague, disconnected ideas to a cohesive paragraph that communicates her ideas to the reader. Jackie shared that she no longer hated writing because FUEL made her a better writer by helping her brainstorm and organize her ideas before writing a paragraph. All of Mrs. Cherry's students realized that FUEL made writing not only easier and quicker, but they also saw and celebrated their writing growth as writers, including at the end of the school year writing celebration.</emph> </p> <p>Whereas FUEL is a specific strategy for expository paragraph writing, graphic organizers like FUEL provide a powerful vehicle to support and improve not only students' writing of any length or complexity but also their engagement and motivation to be writers.</p> <ref id="AN0192768410-9"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref29" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Barbetta P. M. (2024). Remedial and compensatory writing technologies for middle school students with learning disabilities and their classmates in inclusive classrooms. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 68(4), 340–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2023.2259837</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref8" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Boon R. T., Barbetta P. M., Paal M. (2018). The efficacy of graphic organizers on the writing outcomes of students with learning disabilities: A research synthesis of single-case studies. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23(2), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.18666/LDMJ-2018-V23-I2-9042</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref38" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Butler C. M., De La Paz S. (2021). A synthesis on the impact of self-regulated instruction on motivation outcomes for students with or at risk for learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 36(4), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12264</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" idref="ref9" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> Cannella-Malone H. I., Konrad M., Pennington R. C. (2015). ACCESS! Teaching writing skills to students with intellectual disability. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 47(5), 272–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059915580032</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" idref="ref19" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> Chandler B. W., Sayeski K. L. (2024). Teaching writing through content: Six instructional activities to improve students' sentence-level writing skills. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 56(5), 336–344. https://doi.org/10.1177/00400599211050087</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" idref="ref10" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> Datchuk S. M., Wagner K., Hier B. O. (2020). Level and trend of writing sequences: A review and meta-analysis of writing interventions for students with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 86(2), 174–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402919873311</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib7" idref="ref11" type="bt">7</bibl> <bibtext> Evmenova A. S., Regan K., Ahn S. Y., Good K. (2020). Teacher implementation of a technology-based intervention for writing. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 18(1), 27–39.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib8" idref="ref26" type="bt">8</bibl> <bibtext> Ewoldt K. B., Byrne S. R. (2023). Colour-cued paragraph writing instruction for students with learning disabilities. Dyslexia, 29(2), 97–115. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1732</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib9" idref="ref12" type="bt">9</bibl> <bibtext> Ewoldt K. B., Morgan J. J. (2017). Color-coded graphic organizers for teaching writing to students with learning disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 49(3), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059916681769</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Flanagan S. M. (2023). Map it out! Using technology-based concept mapping for written expression. Teaching Exceptional Children, 55(3), 220–223. https://doi.org/10.1177/00400599221099723</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Freeman-Green S., Driver M. K., Wang P., Kamuru J., Jackson D. (2021). Culturally sustaining practices in content area instruction for CLD students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 36(1), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12240</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Gayed J. M., Carlon M. K. J., Oriola A. M., Cross J. S. (2022). Exploring an AI-based writing assistant's impact on English language learners. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, Article 100055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100055</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Gillespie A., Graham S. (2014). A meta-analysis of writing interventions for students with learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 80(4), 454–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402914527238</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Graham S., Bruch J., Fitzgerald J., Friedrich L., Furgeson J., Greene K., Kim J., Lyskawa J., Olson C. B., Smither Wulsin C. (2019). Teaching secondary students to write effectively. 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(2014). Why is writing so difficult for students with learning disabilities? A narrative review to inform the design of effective instruction. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 12(1), 5–20.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Sundeen T. H. (2014). Essay development for secondary students with learning disabilities: Graphic organizers for visualizing organizational patterns. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 33(3), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/875687051403300305</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Sunseri A. B., Sunseri M. A. (2019). The write aid for ELLs: The strategies bilingual student teachers use to help their ELL students write effectively. CATESOL Journal, 31(1), 117–131.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0192768410-10"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibtext> The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Sara M. Flanagan</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext>Graph https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-5751</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Sara M. Flanagan and Joo Young Lee</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref13"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref18"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref30"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref33"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref35"></nolink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sara+M%2E+Flanagan%22">Sara M. Flanagan</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-5751">0000-0001-6952-5751</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Joo+Young+Lee%22">Joo Young Lee</searchLink>
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Expression%22">Self Expression</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Students+with+Disabilities%22">Students with Disabilities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Prewriting%22">Prewriting</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+Processes%22">Writing Processes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+Instruction%22">Writing Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+Strategies%22">Writing Strategies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Instructional+Materials%22">Instructional Materials</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Special+Education%22">Special Education</searchLink>
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  Data: Writing a cohesive, complete paragraph on one idea can be a challenging task for students with high-incidence disabilities who have writing instructional needs. Writing can be supported in students with high-incidence disabilities with prewriting (or planning) strategies. Prewriting, or planning, strategies play a powerful role in developing all students' writing. Prewriting strategies prepare students to write by enabling them to select a topic, identify the audience and purpose of writing, and generate and organize ideas prior to writing their content. When students engage in prewriting, they are more likely to increase the amount of on-topic content and details written with improved organization and overall quality across writing tasks. Prewriting also minimizes the emphasis placed on executive function. In doing so, it allows students to strategically plan how to organize their ideas in a logical sequence and maintain a single focus, such as generating ideas on a writing topic. Prewriting activities are especially beneficial for students with high-incidence disabilities when the strategy is coupled with explicit instruction, practice, and models. This article discusses the FUEL writing strategy and graphic organizer.
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